Jack Cohen's Blog about Israel and other daily amusements

Vexillology

Vexillology is the study of flags, and since my little items about flags caught some people’s interest, here are some more.What is the only flag with a large six pointed star? It is the Israeli flag of course, the Star of David. The blue stripes on top and bottom of the flag represent the traditional biblical blue color (tchelet) of the tallit, the prayer shawl worn by men. Many flags have five-pointed stars in them, including the US and New Zealand flags, but only two have large, centred five-pointed stars, namely Vietnam (yellow on red) and Somalia (white on light blue). Among others that have five pointed stars are Ethiopia, Morocco, Cuba, China, Liberia and Cameroon. Several flags have seven pointed stars, including Jordan and Australia.There are only four flags with filled colored circles, namely Bangladesh (red on green), Japan (red on white), Palau (yellow on pale blue) and Laos (white on a blue background with red stripes on top and bottom). Several also have representations of the sun (Uruguay, Argentina and Kazakhstan). There are comparatively few flags with crosses (the Nordic countries, Switzerland and Greece) and crescents of Islam (Turkey, Tunisia).What is the only flag in the world with a tooth on it? Here is the answer from my dental anatomist friend, Barry: “Vanuatu! The central image is of the tusk of a wild pig/boar. In these islands, a man’s wealth is measured in pigs. If you are really wealthy, you can cut out the top tusk, allowing the lower to grow unhindered. After some time, it will grow into a spiral that you can use as a bangle.” If you don’t know where Vanuatu is located, you can look it up, but it’s in the center of the Pacific Ocean.For those interested in more information see the site “World Flag Database” at www.flags.net